New Shaman
by Disturbedvixen
Summary: Manta reads a book that shows him how to be a shaman. He even gets his own ghost. Anna suspects something and drags Yoh along to find the author of the book. Is the author really trying to help or is she trying to kill Yoh? {COMPLETE!}
1. Manta's Book

~~Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King!~~~  
  
Manta rushed into Yoh's house holding up a book nearly the size of the dictionary he always carried. "Yoh! I'm going to be a shaman!" The big grin on his face disappeared as he saw Anna look at him who burst out laughing.  
  
"Bullshit! You get scared just by Amidamaru popping out all of a sudden!" Anna scoffed.  
  
"That is quite true, isn't it Lord Yoh?" Amidamaru said, popping out of the memorial tablet on Yoh's table.  
  
"EEEP!" Manta screeched.  
  
"See?" Anna said.  
  
Yoh gave Manta a sympathetic look. "Sorry, but I can't argue with the truth. All you're good for is giving me information on most of the spirits I run up on."  
  
"Yeah, and being a pain in the ass," Anna added, slurping her soda through a straw. Amidamaru grinned.  
"Wow, Anna. Being around you has made learn such a colorful vocabulary. True, I don't understand the meaning of these words, but Yoh and Manta had helped me!"  
  
"You're doomed to be as stupid as my fiancé," Anna muttered.  
  
Amidamaru sniffed with his hands clasped together. "Do you really think so? I would love to turn out to be a wonderful lord just as Lord Yoh!"  
  
"Riiight."  
  
"Yeah, so Yoh, can I talk to you in person without the devil being here?" Manta whispered urgently.  
  
Yoh shrugged. "Yeah, why not. I'm getting a little tired of this training anyway. We were only having a thirty second break and it's about up." He went into his room and locked the door behind them. "What is it?"  
  
"I'm serious about being a shaman! There was this thing on the Internet that I saw and it said that this person could teach people with the sixth sense to be a shaman!" Manta said, eagerly shoving the book in his face. "There's more about it in this book!"  
  
Yoh flipped it over and looked at the cover. "How to be a shaman in four to six weeks? That's really lame. Are you sure you could be one?"  
  
"Yeah, because in chapter 2 it says that if you aren't from a long line of shamans but still have the sixth sense, then you can be a shaman!"  
  
"That's not fair! There's a cute little book telling nerds like you on how to be a shaman, but me on the other hand, had to be tortured by Anna! Who wrote this crap anyway?" Yoh looked further down at the cover. "Who's Tami Koyoshima?"  
  
Manta looked sheepishly at the floor. "I don't know anything about her except she was a shaman who taught her cousin how to be a shaman. Her cousin could see ghosts and really wanted to be able to integrate with them. You see, he's a book nerd just like me and gets picked on."  
  
"So? Why did you have to tell me? Couldn't you just surprise me if and when you get this shaman stuff down pact?"  
  
"Yeah, I could have, but it says I need a real shaman to point out what I'm doing wrong when I integrate."  
  
"You don't even have a ghost!"  
  
Manta blushed. "I only have to wait four to six weeks for it. I filled out this form and mailed it to Tami Koyoshima. After four to six weeks, I'll get a ghost to match my needs." His eyes shined brightly. "Just think: me, Manta Oyamada-nerd with his own dictionary-to be a shaman with a ghost of my very own! It might even help me be stronger and cooler!"  
  
"Don't wet yourself with happiness," Yoh said sarcastically.  
  
"So will you help me?!" Manta flashed him a hopeful smile.  
  
Yoh sighed. "Of course I will. You're my friend, but you have to ask Anna about it. I don't get a choice-she keeps my schedule."  
  
"What if she says no?"  
  
"I'm sure Lord Yoh and I will be able to help you in your spare time," Amidamaru said, appearing right beside Manta.  
  
"EEEP! Don't do that! I hate it when you suddenly pop up!" Manta exclaimed, clutching his shirt over his heart.  
  
Amidamaru smiled at him and continued to stare into the air with stars flashing in his eyes. "I hope that your ghost will be a samurai! I would love to have a companion! Lord Yoh and I could be fighting side by side with you and your ghost!"  
  
"I guess so, but we still have to get through Anna," Yoh reminded.  
  
Amidamaru and Manta shared nervous looks. "I hope she agrees," Amidamaru said.  
  
"I just hope she doesn't jump down my neck for agreeing to it. I hate it when she nags!" Yoh muttered.  
  
~~~~The end for now. Please review! Flames are accepted! Tell me what I'm doing wrong and what I spelled wrong. I'm not a person who's big on Shaman King, but I just had a weird idea.~~~~~ 


	2. Possibility of a Trap

~~~~~~~~~~~Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King! ~~~~~~~~~  
  
"So what do you say Anna," Manta asked breathlessly after he explained his plan to her.  
  
"Hm. . ." Anna said, rubbing her chin. She threw her hands into the air. "Why not? Go ahead."  
  
"See! I told you-wait, what?" Yoh exclaimed.  
  
"I'm going to let him do what he wants to. He's not my fiancé, you are. He may have to obey me, but I don't run his life." Anna waved her hand, gesturing for him to run along. "Go have fun with whatever you are planning to do."  
  
Manta went away, skipping as he went. "I'm going to be a shaman, I'm going to be a shaman," he sang.  
  
Anna watched him run off. She turned and focused her gaze on Yoh. "As for you, we're supposed to be training!"  
  
Yoh moaned. "Aw, but Anna, why?! We already trained for the whole day; it's like six o'clock in the afternoon! When am I supposed to have time to help Manta?"  
  
Anna thought about the whole thing. "This thing does seem pretty fishy. Why is it that you and I have come from a long line of shamans and we have to learn stuff from our families to ensure that we pass it down to our kids? We even have to get arranged marriages just so we can keep the shaman blood running. People with the sixth sense aren't as rare as shamans, but here is a book that any nerd can find on the Internet telling them that if you could at least see ghost, than you could be one of our kind." She sighed and continued to think. "It doesn't make sense to me."  
  
Yoh sat back with his arms crossed behind his head. "Maybe this Tami Koyoshima person is a shaman who finally found a way to make the shaman race last longer."  
  
Amidamaru nodded in agreement. "It is possible, is it not? How very noble of this man to discover such a thing!"  
  
"Amidamaru, Tami Koyoshima is a girl," Yoh muttered.  
  
Amidamaru grinned. "Oops. I did not know, Lord Yoh."  
  
Anna jumped to her feet, upsetting her chair and nearly knocking the round table over on top of Yoh. "Who did you say wrote this book?!"  
  
"T-tami Koyoshima . . ." Yoh stuttered. He knew that killer look in Anna's eyes. It was the same look she wore when she threatened him to spar him on during his training.  
  
"Shit," Anna muttered. She sat down. "This isn't good."  
  
"Why not?" Amidamaru asked.  
  
"Tami Koyoshima was my arch rival while I was trained as a shaman. She was so much better than me, but when she integrated with her ghost, she did it with too much anger and force. You're supposed to care at least a little for your ghost and it has to return the same affection. If you have a special connection with your ghost, than reaching the desired percentage of integration would be easier."  
  
"Yeah, so?" Yoh muttered, scratching his head under his headphones.  
Anna slammed her fist down on the table. "The point is that she probably has something planned for all of these people who are buying this book and are ready to take this stupid course of hers! Manta is walking straight into this trap and he isn't thinking about it because he's too excited to finally be something he can't."  
  
Yoh jumped to his feet too. "I think you're just jealous of Manta! You're jealous because both you and I had to go through all this bullshit training just to be a shaman and all he has to do is read a book." He walked out of the living room and stormed out into the street. Carefully, he thought over everything. Suddenly, a strange feeling washed over him.  
  
"Lord Yoh, what is the matter?" Amidamaru asked carefully.  
  
"Maybe Anna's right. What if Manta is really walking into a trap?" Yoh murmured. "Shouldn't I help him?"  
  
"Perhaps it would be best if we wait until Manta gets his ghost. Once we see his ghost and see what Manta has troubles with, than we can see if the whole thing is a trap."  
  
Yoh punched his fist into an open palm. "That's a great idea! We just have to wait for four to six weeks!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~The end for now! Please review and flames are accepted!~~~~~~~~~~~ 


	3. Fourtosix Weeks Later

~~~~~To answer the reviews: To Chibi Team Rocket, I know all this, I just didn't gather all my facts right. Sorry! I know Anna was dropped off and the Tami kid isn't about Anna and Yoh's age. I didn't think about it, so thanks for pointing it out! I'll explain more about Tami in the story, so keep on the look out for more cheese on her.  
  
To the anonymous reviewer Akdia Yamakusa: I know Manta isn't jealous or anything. I don't think I said that he was jealous in the story anywhere.if I did, sorry. I didn't mean it like that. He just ran into something on JOL which will be called Japan on Line instead of America on line or a Website like that and decided it would be a cool thing to try. I thought I put that Yoh said that Anna is jealous because both she and Yoh had to train while Manta had to only read a really long book. Yoh of course, isn't lame, but it was sort of a joke for him to ask Anna's permission for helping Manta. You know how Anna acts and how bossy she is. He acts all lame like that around Anna to make sure he doesn't get her mad. Got it? Good.  
  
So anyway, here's the next chapter. Please review it and flames are accepted. ~~~~~  
  
CHAPTER THREE: FOUR TO SIX WEEKS LATER  
  
Yoh sat down gingerly rubbing his backside. "Ow . . .my butt is so sore."  
  
"Poor Lord Yoh," Amidamaru said sympathetically.  
  
Anna laid a plate of cookies and a glass of milk on the table. "I can't believe you fell out of a fucking tree all because a fucking cat scared you half to death. I don't think you have what it takes to be Shaman King." She sighed dramatically. "If only I could have had an arranged marriage with that Ren person Manta has told us about. He isn't a lazy bonehead like you."  
  
"Damn, woman! Leave me alone! I don't need your sass when I'm trying to relax for this 30-second break period. Besides, I don't think you want half Japanese and half Chinese kids. I've got an uncle who did that and his kids came out so ugly, it wasn't funny." Yoh looked at the cookies. "Did you make these for me?"  
  
"Yeah. I'm not a 100 percent bitch. I can be nice when I want to be. Besides, apart from learning Shamanism from your grandmother, she also taught me some household stuff so I could be a decent wife to you." Anna shrugged and smiled at him. "You're a slacker, but I've seen you improve. I'm proud of you!"  
  
"A-anna . . ." Yoh whispered. He had never seen her nice. "You're scaring me. Are you feeling okay?"  
  
Anna returned to her usual mood. "But that's not enough! You have no choice but to be able to withstand the pain and strain on your body when you achieve total integration."  
  
Amidamaru sighed. "Lord Yoh, you do not need to do this. I want you to lead a happy and carefree life! I do not want you to die!"  
  
"It's okay, Amidamaru. I'm doing this because I wanted to. It's been a goal for me every since I was four. I know there's tons of Shamans out there who would want you as their personal ghost. If I have a ghost like you, I want to be worthy of you and of your skills. I think you deserve to be able to help me be the Shaman King," Yoh said.  
  
"That is so valiant of you, Lord Yoh!" Amidamaru cried. He sniffed and ran a hand across his eyes. "I-I will do my best for you!"  
  
The front door to the Asakura house burst open. Manta came rushing in holding a box in his hand roughly the size of his favorite dictionary he lugged around. "YOH! I GOT IT! I GOT IT! COME AND SEE!"  
  
"Can't you come to me when I'm not on a break?" Yoh asked.  
  
"But Yoh," Manta whined.  
  
"Yes, Lord Yoh, please allow him to show us his new companion. I am eager to see who it is," Amidamaru insisted, popping his face near Manta to inspect the box.  
  
Yoh said nothing and stared at Manta. "Whoa," he said.  
  
"L-lord Yoh?"  
  
"Manta! You didn't scream for a change!" Yoh exclaimed. "I'm so glad for you!"  
  
Manta slowly began to smile. "Hey! You're right!" He got up and danced around. "I'm cured!"  
  
The sound of a plastic straw attempting to draw droplets of soda interrupted his dance. Anna set her glass down and looked at the two of them. "Yoh, your training for today is over . . .maybe for the rest of this week."  
  
"You mean it?" Yoh asked carefully.  
  
Anna nodded, brushing back a few strands of flyaway blonde hair. "I know I'll regret this, but you haven't whined as much as you usually have for the past few weeks. Go have fun."  
  
Yoh jumped up and hugged her. "I'm so glad there's good in you! You aren't a cold-hearted bitch after all . . . not totally, anyway!"  
  
Manta jumped for joy. "Great! Come on, Yoh! Let's go to my house!" he ran out lugging his box.  
  
Yoh took a single step out the door, turned, and faced Anna. "Why are you letting me go? You always said that this was the perfect time to do my training."  
  
"I know, but I am going to take a day or two off so I can ask your grandmother about this weird feeling I'm getting. Maybe she can give me some advice and some facts about how Tami is doing. I know Tami has got something up her sleeve. I can almost smell it."  
  
"The she-devil is actually concerned for Manta!" Amidamaru exclaimed.  
  
"Shut up, vapor brain. I was worried about Yoh, not Manta. Manta is decently responsible."  
  
"Ah yes . . .young love . . .how long ago it was when I first fell in love . . ." Amidamaru had stars in his eyes.  
  
"It's not like that. Yoh is my fiancé after all. Manta is just an associate I guess you can say. I have a feeling that this is a trap and Yoh is linked in this somehow just because he is Manta's friend. Call it a stupid, but just trust me for once in your life, Yoh."  
  
"I will. Thanks." He kissed her tentatively on her cheek. He regretted it instantly as Anna shoved him out the door.  
  
"Just go and quit acting stupid!" Anna exclaimed. She watched as Amidamaru drifted after Yoh and watched Yoh walk down the street with his ears obviously red under his black hair and headphones. She touched her cheek and felt herself blush. "He is my fiancé . . . so feeling like this isn't stupid," she muttered to herself. She shook her head and focused on the task ahead of her. "I have to tell Kino as soon as possible. The best way to tell her is to contact the ghosts around her training area." She walked off to a place where she could get some quiet to concentrate on what she had to do.  
  
At his house, Manta opened his door and carefully lay his box on the bed as if it contained something so precious that anything that involved pressure would destroy it.  
  
"Manta, why are you so interested in being a shaman? You never seemed to want to do all this stuff before," Yoh asked curiously, sitting down where he could get a good view of the box.  
  
"I'm not suddenly interested. I just found the book on JOL while I was trying to check my e-mail. You know, Japan on Line? I don't think you know it, but my mom has this sister, my Aunt May, who has a daughter. The daughter is my cousin Jodi who has a stepsister named Tami Koyoshima. I had no idea that Tami was related to me until Jodi told me over the Internet an hour or so ago. To make it more ironic, just as she told me that, I got Tami Koyoshima's package for me containing my very own ghost!" Manta hugged himself with glee. "This is the coolest thing to happen to be since I was nominated to go into accelerated chemistry!"  
  
"Tami is a shaman, right? I'm trying to get facts straight," Yoh said.  
  
"Yeah, that's right."  
  
"So, you've got a shaman in your family, even if she's not blood related."  
  
"It's so cool!"  
  
"What if I said there was the off chance that Tami Koyoshima was trying to kill you through the ghost she gave you just to get at me or Anna?"  
  
"Why would she do that? Tami is really nice-that's what Jodi said. Besides, Tami gave me all my money and stuff back just because I'm her cousin. I got all this cool stuff free! She can't be all bad."  
  
"I'm glad for you; I really am, Manta. This means that I can have a best friend that's a shaman too!"  
  
"But. . .Lord Yoh, I believe you said that I was your best friend. Did I hear incorrectly when you told me?" Amidamaru asked, sitting on a chair.  
  
"You're my best friend too. It's possible to have more than one friend, Amidamaru," Yoh said.  
  
"That is a relief. I confess that I had been worried about this whole affair with Manta learning to be a shaman. He, too, would possible strive to be the shaman king. I-I was worried that if Manta's ghost companion was much more impressive than me, you would get angry and use integration to destroy him and take his ghost. Then with his ghost, you would abandon me-just as Ren would have done with Bason if he had ever acquired me," Amidamaru said tentatively.  
  
"I wouldn't do that to either of you! The three of us are closer than mayonnaise on two slices of bread!" Yoh said.  
  
"But Lord Yoh, is there not meat in between the slices of bread and the strange delicacy you put on the bread? What is the meat represented as in this example?"  
  
"What he means is, there's ham and other stuff between the bread. If we're the bread and mayo, then there's something standing in our way," Manta said, trying to reiterate.  
  
"Oh. . .I don't know. I guess that was a dumb example, but I think you two get the gist of what I'm trying to say here. Nothing, even Manta's new ghost or abilities, is going to pull the three of us apart!" Yoh grinned. "Now, are you going to show us your ghost or not?!"  
  
"Yeah! Lets see!" Manta opened the box, carefully pushing away the delicate tissue paper that lined the box.  
  
Yoh and Amidamaru peered into the box as Manta pushed the last of the tissue paper away.  
  
"What is it?!" Amidamaru asked.  
  
"It's. . .weird looking!" Yoh exclaimed. He glanced at Manta's face. "It's cool, really it is. It's just, you know, weird looking. Amidamaru at least looks like himself in flame mode. What is this, anyway?"  
  
"Let me look at the letter Tami sent me." Manta looked at the envelope that was attached to the box.  
  
~~~~~HA! Cliffie! I'm not exactly sure of what the ghost is going to be. I'll figure it out eventually. Until then, pretty please review! If any of you out there that reads this and happens to like Yu Yu Hakusho as well as Shaman king, then please read my other fanfiction! I don't get very many reviews on any of my stories, so I'm wondering if my stories suck. Just read and review telling me if my stories suck, if they're good, if I've done something terribly wrong like get the character layouts of history messed up. Most of the time, I'll let you know if I just made up the history layouts. Like Manta being a cousin to Tami, I just added that to spice stuff up later on. Just review all my stories, please!~~~ 


	4. Club Membership Papers

~~~~Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in this story except Tami and the new ghost thingy!~~~~  
  
Manta held the flame with cupped hands. "Wow," he breathed. "My very own ghost!"  
  
"Hold it up where we can see it!" Yoh insisted. He reached out to touch the ghost and poked it. "Cool! But I still don't know what it is. Where's the instructions or something for it?" He rummaged through the tissue paper Manta pushed aside. He held up an envelope.  
  
"Open it, Lord Yoh!" Amidamaru said eagerly.  
  
"Yeah, Yoh!" Manta said.  
  
"Okay." Yoh opened the envelope and withdrew some paper. "Here's the thing you filled out."  
  
"No, that's for membership of the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of Shamans. Tami sent me more than one copy so you and Anna can join if you want to!"  
  
"Okay, let me read our benefits. Hm. . .free parking, I can't drive though, but hey! In the future, I can! Lets see, complementary soul cleansing. . .what the hell is that?! Static free channeling. . .I don't have that kind of stuff to put up with. That's it?! I'm not joining!" Yoh put the paper down.  
  
"You didn't read the fine print."  
  
"Gimme a magnifying glass or something, then," Yoh said. Manta handed him the glass. "Hmm. . .free food, sexy people, free cars, (we ran out so sorry), free soda (every flavor) and a club member card to get free food from some fast food joint that we chose at the time." Yoh looked up at Manta. "This looks like they just added something for the heck of it."  
  
Manta shrugged. "I won't join if you won't."  
  
"What the hell are you thinking?! Of course I'll join! Free food, sexy chicks! Duh! What kind of idiot wouldn't join?!" Yoh exclaimed.  
  
Amidamaru and Manta fell over.  
  
Yoh pulled out a pencil. "Lets see. One: I learned about Shamanism from: newspaper ad, Spiritual Apparition, Friend, Near-death experience, website, other. Check only one. . .other. Two: I like to use my Shaman powers to: ace test at school, get a driver's liscense, make friends, rectify historical injustices, perform odd jobs. Check all that apply. . .um. . .geez, I guess other. I only get my butt whooped by freaks like Ren! Three A: Yes, I have a sidekick, no, I'm a loner. . ." Yoh looked at Manta. "You wanna be my sidekick?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Okay then. Yes, I have a sidekick. Three B: If yes, my sidekick is a: nerdy classmate, sexy classmate, furry animal, furry alien, nerdy alien, sexy alien, other. What are you, Manta?"  
  
"I want to be a sexy alien!"  
  
"Alrighty then, you'll be a nerdy classmate."  
  
"That's no fun . . ."  
  
"Four: my favorite spirit is a: samurai, chinese general, pastry chef, dog walker, tax attorney, secret agent, marine biologist, other. Check one. . .hmm. . .samurai!"  
  
"That is very noble of you to choose that, Lord Yoh."  
  
"Nah, it's true. All these other things are stupid. Lets see, five: I use my shaman powers: every halloween, less than once a week, once a week, slightly more than once a week, at least once per hour. Check one. . .this is confusing! Um. . .it depends on who wants to kick my butt that week."  
  
"What of Anna's training, Lord Yoh?" Amidamaru suggested.  
  
"Oh yeah! So, slightly more than a week. Six: To tune out spirit voice, I often: listen to music, pinch myself in the leg, recite line from 'Dude where's my car?', make chainsaw ice sculptures, honk my horn in the garage, practice yoga moves, other. Check one. I guess listen to music. Seven: the spirits I channel were alive during the: meiji restoration, dark ages, bauchaus movement, summer of love, "me" decade, renaissance, dot-com boom, Ming Dynasty, other. Check all that apply. Other?"  
  
"This is stupid," Manta muttered. "What kind of stupid questions are these?"  
  
"I don't know. Lets see, eight: I emply my shaman powers as a: sideshow performer, construction worker, orthopedic surgeon, parking lot attendant, dog walker, Shaman King, other. Check one. Shaman King, of course!" Yoh dropped the pencil. "That's it."  
  
"You're seriously joining?" Manta asked.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"It seems iffy to me. All this stuff asks pretty personal questions."  
  
"That still doesn't answer our question, Lord Yoh. What is the ghost?" Amidamaru asked.  
  
"The next paper says that it's a. . .what's it say? The ink is a little smudged," Yoh said. He squinted at it.  
  
~~~~~~Hee hee hee, what is it? Check the next chapter! Review please, and flames are accepted!~~~~ 


	5. Lady Kite

                **Disclaimer**: I don't own the normal characters on Shaman King, but I own whoever you never heard of.

                Special thanks to **Chibi Team Rocket** for helping me with the idea of the ghost!

                                                **CHAPTER FIVE:  Lady Kite**

**Note:** _Before you start reading, Kite in this story is pronounced Kee-teh._

                "What does it say?!" Manta exclaimed.  "TELL ME!"

                "I told you, I don't know because the ink is smudged!" Yoh said.  "Or maybe this is some strange language I don't know."

                Amidamaru looked at it.  "It is an old form of writing.  It states that the ghost Manta has is some sort of person that's lived from almost the time I was in.  Perhaps I could talk to him?"

                Manta held up the flame and peeked at it.  "Could you please take shape like Amidamaru?" he asked it.

                The flame looked at him, blinked slowly bounced out of his hands onto the bed cover.  The flame turned into a female shape.  The female had long black falling past her slender shoulders.  She wore a light blue kimono with a royal blue sash.  She bowed to them all. The corners of her lips pulled upwards in a mix of a smile and a smirk.  "Hello," she said.  Her green eyes looked appealingly at Amidamaru.

                "This ghost is . . .a babe!" Yoh said under his breath.

                "Yoh, you said this ghost was ugly," Manta said, elbowing him.  

                "The flame thingy did look pretty ugly!" Yoh said defensively.

                The ghost looked at him, smiling her odd smile.  "That is quite all right.  I have gotten that before."  She continued to look at Amidamaru.

                Yoh and Manta looked at Amidamaru who was sweating . . .if ghosts could sweat . . . They looked at each other and shrugged.

                                "Uh, Amidamaru, you okay?" Yoh asked.  

                Amidamaru swallowed.  "Lady Kite, I thought that your soul had passed onto the world beyond!"

                Yoh and Manta fell off of the bed in surprise.  Yoh recovered first.  "You know this lady?"

                Amidamaru nodded slowly.  "Yes.  We . . .we were once very close.  I was sent to protect her from harm.  I was killed while trying to protect her.  There were far too many warriors and I was already wounded from a previous battle.  My lady, why did you not pass on?"

                Kite cocked her head slightly to think.  "I do not know what you mean.  They did not kill me.  They took me into this house and starved me, but I was still alive.  It was a young girl who saved me.  She said she was a Shaman.  That's all I know until now.  The next thing I know, I am in the house of two young boys with very strange clothing."  She frowned slightly.  "Young children have very odd taste.  Young man, what is that metal object on your head?"

                Yoh lifted his headphones.  "This?"

                Kite nodded.

                "They're called headphones.  We use it to listen to music."

                Kite looked curiously at them.  "That is very strange."  She looked around the room.  "This is a strange room as well filled with stranger things."  She touched her forehead.  "I do not believe I have slept for that long.  Why don't I know of this location?"

                "Lady, it might be hard to accept, but you are . . .you have perished long ago as I have.  This is the year 2003.  Both of us are ghosts now.  That is why I wanted to know why you are one.  Were you not satisfied in your life?" Amidamaru said.

                Kite shook her head.  "I do not know of this.  Perhaps it is because I had a feeling you were still alive . . .I didn't want to believe that you had died."

                Amidamaru slowly smiled.  "Now the two of us can be together again.  I am glad that you have been chosen to be Manta's partner in Shamanism."

                Manta blinked.  "Oh geez, that's right!  I have to integrate with her.  I have to integrate . . .with a girl?!"  His head felt like it was going to explode.  "That's going to feel so weird integrating with a girl, isn't it?"

                Yoh shrugged.  "Not that I know. Ask Anna; she can channel all kinds of spirits.  I'm not an expert or anything."

                Manta looked up at Kite.  "What sort of abilities do you have?  I mean Amidamaru is a samurai and he's a really good integration partner."

                "Integration?" Kite asked.  "What is that?  Is that some strange way of greeting people?"

                Anime sweat fell down Manta's face.  "Amidamaru, please tell her."

                "Lady Kite, integration is when your spirit merges with that of Manta's and your powers are used through his body," Amidamaru explained.

                Kite wrinkled her nose.  "It sounds painful."

                Manta sighed.  "Could you just please answer my question?"

                Kite nodded and raised her hands in front of her.  She gestured with her hands.  Manta and Yoh were lifted into the air and were twirled around like a top for a second or two.  She dropped them gently on the ground.  "I supposed that is what you mean, is it not?" she asked tentatively.

                Manta gasped.  "WOW!  You've got telekinetic powers!  That's so cool!"

                Yoh grinned.  "That's really rare.  Too bad you couldn't integrate with me."

                Amidamaru frowned.  "Lord Yoh--"

                "Don't worry, you're my friend.  I'm never going to replace you for any reason or for anyone," Yoh said.  He smiled at him.  "Don't worry, buddy.  Kite is cool, but I enjoy you being my ghost.  You know how many people kicked my butt just to try and get you."

                Amidamaru nodded.  "True, that is true.  Could you and Manta refer to Lady Kite as Lady or something of that sort?  She was the daughter of the emperor at the time."

                "Wow, Manta, royalty on top of being a babe and psychic powers!" Yoh said.

                "It is all right, I prefer to be called Kite.  Lady Kite makes me feel as though I am too weak to fend for myself.  Amidamaru, you may call me as you will, but I prefer Kite," Kite said.

                "Yes, M'lady."

                "Lets go show Anna!" Manta said.  

                "I don't know what she's doing right now. She said she had to talk to my grandmother about what she fears is going to happen," Yoh explained.

                Manta was quite for a while.  "Maybe we can get her tomorrow.  I was hoping she could help me train some."

                "WHAT?!" Yoh yelled.  "She's going to treat you so bad you'll wish you were dead!"

                "I know, but she made you stronger so she can help me be better!  I can put up with it."

                Yoh shrugged.  "Oh well.  I'd better get home.  I still have a little homework to finish up.  I'll show you the basics later, okay?"

                "Okay.  See ya," Manta said.  

                Amidamaru bowed to Kite and returned to his memorial tablet.  Yoh dug threw the box Manta had and pulled out a memorial tablet.  "I think this is to keep Kite from scaring the sensitive people.  Remember to leave offerings, okay?"  Yoh left out the door.


	6. Anna? Fainting?

            **Disclaimer:  **I don't own Hiroyuki Takei's characters but I own Lady Kite and anyone else you don't see in Shaman King.  

                                                _You know that flames are accepted by now, right?_

                                                **Chapter six:  Anna? Fainting?**

                 Yoh sat in his seat and yawned.  Manta wanted him to come to class early so the two of them could talk to Anna to explain all about Kite, Manta's personal ghost.  Manta was reading over his dictionary for the hell of it.

                "Damn, Manta!  Anna isn't even here and neither is anyone else!  Let me sleep.  Amidamaru wouldn't shut up about 'Lady Kite this, and Lady Kite that!'  It's nice to know that the two of them are friends and everything but since I'm _alive_ I need to sleep!" Yoh complained loudly.

                Amidamaru came out of his memorial tablet, bowing.  "Forgive me, Lord Yoh.  I was far too excited to remember your need of sleep.  Do not cast me out on Funbari Hill with all those accursed spirits."

                "No problem, but _please, please, PLEASE_ don't do it again!  Besides, why would I cast you out where some freak like that Ren guy could steal you for his own."  He turned to Manta.  "So how's she doing?" he asked in a whisper.

                "Who?" Manta looked blankly at Yoh.

                Amidamaru popped out of his memorial tablet. "Lady Kite!  How have you been treating her?"

                "Oh.  Fine, I guess.  I really doing know because she's always in her memorial tablet.  She won't come out even when I give her offerings and when I ask her to come out to get to know her better."  Manta slouched over his dictionary sadly.  "I want to be a shaman.  It would be an honor to have an emperor's daughter be my ghost, but she won't talk to me or anything."

                Amidamaru nodded with crossed arms.  "Ah yes, it does make sense.  Lady Kite has always been shy.  Her abilities make her self-conscious so she keeps to herself."

                "It seems like you know her pretty well.  It doesn't sound like _your_ normal kill-all-the-dumb-asses-that-dares-bother-you story like you always seem to tell us," Yoh said, grinning in a teasing way.  He rested his chin on his supported arms.  "So, tell us the whole story.  What _really_ went on and how do you_ really_ know one another?"

                Amidamaru frowned slightly.  "Forgive me, Lord Yoh.   I know I'm being disobedient for refusing to give you information, but I don't know myself.  I do not understand the true reason why I didn't mind protecting her when it was me who was being attacked.  Normally, I would have allowed her to be taken captive but something instinctive told me to help her.  Perhaps it was the wrong thing to do when I died from doing this."

                Yoh was stunned into silence.  He rarely heard this side of Amidamaru and it always made him lapse into silence.  "Look, I'm sorry if I hurt you by saying all that, okay?  I was joking.  I wouldn't force you to answer something personal unless it had to do with me, Manta, or Anna. . .or my parents, and maybe not Anna as much, but you get my point!"

                He turned to face Manta who had been prodding him in the back with the corner of his dictionary for the past 20 seconds.  "What is it?"

                "Don't tell me that's Anna," Manta said quietly.

                Yoh looked at the front of the room where Anna was looking carefully around the classroom as if she wasn't able to see straight.  "Um. . .if I told you that, I would be lying, wouldn't I?"

                "No, Look at her clothes.  You know how she is about the dress code and here she is wither her bandana and rosary beads around her neck."

                "Hey, you're right!  ANNA!  Come here!"  Yoh called to her.

                Anna turned her head slightly.  She didn't answer but merely stared at him with her usual piercing glare.

                "Anna?  What's wrong?" Yoh asked carefully.  He walked up to her.  "Are you okay?"  He squinted up at her face and noticed the bags under her normally flawless face.  

                "I don't know how I am, but I'm tell you now, if you're in the stupid club called something like The Brotherhood & Sisterhood of Shamanism, DROP OUT.  It's a trap.  I was curious about it so I went to see what it was about.  Then something happened."  Anna clutched the front of her shirt above her heart as if she was in pain.  Her eyes closed all of a sudden and she collapsed.  Yoh caught her just before she hit the ground.

                "Somebody call an ambulance or something!  Anna just passed out!"  Yoh yelled.  He glanced at Manta.  "I mean it!  If _she_ off all girls pass out, it's got to be major!"


	7. Discovery

            **Disclaimer:** I don't own anyone but Kite and Tami so far that I know of.  Anyone else introduced that you don't see in the Manga or cartoon is **MINE**!

**A/N:** Some of you may have been watching the Shaman King cartoon.  I prefer for Manta's name to be MANTA.  On the cartoon, his name is Mortimer, Morty for short, but I like Manta because Mortimer sound too dorky.  On with this fanfic!!!

~~~~~~Manta lay fast asleep in a chair.  Yoh sat wide-awake in a chair across from Manta with his back towards him.  He was facing the door of the waiting room with a grim look on his face. Amidamaru hovered above Yoh.  He looked from the dark window to Yoh's face.

            "Lord Yoh," Amidamaru said finally, wondering if it was wrong of him to break the dead silence.

            "What?"

            "The sky beyond this glass barrier is dark, meaning that it the night.  You should rest."

            "I'm too worried about Anna to fall asleep.  It'd not like her to faint; you know she's not wimpy like most girls.  It's not normal.  I mean it's bad enough that she broke the dress code but _fainting_?

            "Calm down at least, My Lord.  You will worry yourself into the afterlife."

            "I'll try to calm it down."

            The door to the waiting room opened.  "Yoh Asakura?"  It was a female doctor with short brown hair and piercing eyes.  "Which one of you children is Yoh Asakura?" she asked.  Her piercing eyes squinted at them.

            Yoh stood up.  "That's me."

            The doctor held a hand up for Yoh to shake.  "I am Dr. Takoyaki."  After they shook hands, Dr. Takoyaki looked down at Manta who was snoring away.  "Is this a friend of yours?"

            "Yeah, so how's Anna doing?"

            "Anna?  You must mean Mrs. Kyoyama.  Um, I think you should come with me."

            Yoh frowned and began to follow.  Amidamaru gripped Yoh's shoulder.  "My Lord, I believe I should awaken Manta," he offered.  "He might know more about Lady Anna's condition in case it is something that he has read about in his scrolls."

            "They're _books_, not scrolls, but okay.  I really don't want to wake him up but he'll probably get mad if I don't," Yoh said.

            Dr. Takoyaki glanced at Yoh.  "Who are you talking to?"

            Yoh looked at her, remembering that a lot of normal people didn't have the sixth sense like he, Manta and Anna did.  "Uh, I was humming!  Didn't you hear me singing the latest song from Samurai Zombies?"

            "Is that even a group?"

            _Why not, I just made it up and I bet some weirdo's will come up with a group named this some day,_ Yoh thought.  "Um, yeah.  You must not have kids around my age."

            "No.  I guess you're right."

            Manta woke up with a screech.  "ACK!  Amidamaru, I don't like the sleep paralysis thing!  Just scream at me or something, you don't know how scary it is not to be able to move!"

            Dr. Takoyaki looked behind Yoh.  "Is your friend alright?"

            "Uh, he takes creative writing classes and his dreams inspire him.  He's got a really good imagination."

            Manta stood up and yawned.  "What is it, Yoh?""

            Yoh turned.  "Dr. Takoyaki is going to show us how Anna is."

            Manta nodded.  "Good. But, Doc, your name is so weird!  Your last name is a _food_, you know that, right?"

            Dr. Takoyaki scowled.  "Shut up.  I don't need to hear your sass at one in the morning!  I hadn't even had my energizing ginseng tea just yet."

            Manta shrugged.  "I hadn't done my homework either.  Oh crap!  I've got the advanced physics test tomorrow!  The professor said that if I don't pass it, I won't be able to take the actual class when I'm supposed to.  I'm going to be a senior by then!  I can't not pass the test!"

            "Don't spaz, Manta! You and I can figure out something as soon as we find out what made Anna pass out."

            "You're taking that?" Dr. Takoyaki asked.  "You look like you're only about in the eighth grade at most."

            "I'm advanced, lady.  Can we get going?" Manta scoffed.

            Anna lay on the hospital bed attached to a heart rate monitor, IV's and everything.  Yoh looked at her.  "What's wrong with her?" he asked quickly.

            Manta studied the monitors and everything.  "Heart rate seems normal and her breathing is shallower than usual but she's asleep, right?  Everything seems to be in perfect working condition."

            Dr. Takoyaki beamed.  "Wow, you _have_ been studying your sciences, haven't you?  That's just the problem.  She's in a comatose state but her heart rate is normal but there's no brain damage or anything to speak of that could cause it.  Her spinal cord is intact and nothing's clogging the veins to her brains.  She's in perfect health."

            "She's just in a coma?" Manta thought over it.

            "Is that a really bad thing?" Yoh asked. 

            Amidamaru hovered above Anna.  "My Lord, I sense something strange about her."

            "She's in a coma with all signs being perfect, of course it's strange!" Manta hissed.

            Amidamaru shook his head.  "You may not be able to feel it but there is a coldness coming from her soul."

            Manta jerked his head up in Amidamaru's direction.  "What?!"

            Dr. Takoyaki jumped.  "What?  What is it?!"

            "Can we have a few minutes alone with Anna?  You can drink your tea while we try to talk to her."

            "Okay, I don't know what good it'll do but I really need the tea."

            Manta looked up at Amidamaru.  "What do you mean exactly?"

            "I cannot explain it.  I have never had enough senses to explain this now.  There were rumors of Lady Kite being sensitive to the spirits who have left the living."

            "Then we need her!  I can't get her to get out of her memorial tablet, you have to try and get her."

            Amidamaru shuddered.  "That is her memorial stone! I cannot bear to disturb the holy memorial of another spirit."

            Yoh sighed.  "I can do it.  I'm more experienced at doing this kind of stuff.  Hand me the tablet, will ya?"

            He held it up. "Lady Kite!  I summon you to be with us!  We need your services!"  A flame burst out of it.

            "IT'S ON FIRE!" Manta hissed.

            "Look closer, it hasn't turned into it's true form just yet," Yoh scolded.  

            Kite took shape.  "Have I been summoned?"  
            Yoh nodded.  "Yeah, I wanna know why you don't come when Manta tries to call you out."

            "I do not know.  I do not like small places but for some reason, I am unable to walk among you as Amidamaru is.  Perhaps there is something keeping me from entering this realm."  Kite's eyes began to fill with tears.  "Forgive me!  It isn't entirely my fault!"

            Amidamaru smiled reassuringly.  "Do not worry, my Lady.  We forgive you.  We would like you to help us do something."

            "Anything!  I've been stuck for so long."

            Manta pointed to Anna.  "Something's wrong with her and it's nothing us living people can see or feel.  Amidamaru can feel it but can't explain it.  Can you help with it?"

            "I suppose I can," Kite said.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sorry I have to end this with a cliffie but what the heck.  I made this chapter long to make up for the amount of time it took for me to update.  Read, review and FORGIVE ME! You know my policy of flames being allowed so REVIEW!

            __


	8. A Familiar Face

            Kite put her hands above Anna's heart and head.  She could feel darkness from Anna just as Amidamaru said.  "It's coming from within her," she said.

            Yoh winced.  "That's not a good thing," he said.     

            Manta looked up.  "Why not?"

            "Something's possessing her either that or her soul has been taken from her."  Yoh frowned down at his friend.  "You mean they didn't tell you that in your book?  It's practically a basic thing a Shaman needs to know if they're going to exorcise a spirit out of a possessed person."

            "You don't exorcise spirits," Manta pointed out.

            "I know that but it's still a basic, like learning your times tables. It's a basic."

            "I'm surprised that you knew that."

            Amidamaru went between them.  "How can we stop this?"

            "Hold on, Anna told us something about that brotherhood and sisterhood Manta and I signed up for."

            "Did she?" Manta asked.

            "She said it was a trap, don't you remember, Amidamaru?" Yoh said.

            "Yes, My Lord."

            "She went to talk to your grandmother too, didn't she?" Manta asked.

            Yoh sat on a stool next to Anna. "I bet after she talked to Grandmother, she went to the club and tried to warn me but it was too late.  We have to go and see what made this happen."

            "Just in time that we figured all this out too.  Tami Koyoshima sent me a letter this morning to tell me about the first meeting for the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of Shamans.  It's the day after tomorrow."

            "Then we'll go then and figure all this crap out!" Yoh pumped his fist into the air.  He turned to Kite.  "We're going to need your help too.  I'm sure you'll do really good."

            "But My Lord, it really isn't good to have a female fight as I do.  It goes against all codes of samurai," Amidamaru interjected.

            Kite shook her head.  "I am unable to combat against one directly but I can do things from a distance."  She bowed low to Manta.  "I understand that you are accustomed to Amidamaru's style of fighting face to face but I am not made to the same."

            "No prob.  I'm not the type to get up in people's faces either.  We'll do fine together."

            Dr. Takoyaki came in with a mug of tea.  "Hello, have you finished up?"

            "Yeah, we did.  We'll be back in a few days to see if she gets better," Yoh said.  He scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to her.  "This is my phone number.  If she shows any signs of getting better, call me.  I gotta go so my parent's won't get too mad at me."

            Two days later, Manta and Yoh entered the building where a sign pointed out the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of Shamans.

            "Wow!  It's amazing!  I didn't know that there were these many shamans in Japan!" Manta explained.  

            "These aren't just Japanese ones.  Some of these came all the way from America, Australia, everywhere.  This club is really popular among the Shamans of the world," Yoh said, noticing the different clothes the shamans had.  

            Amidamaru was excited to see all the different ghosts.  "Do you think there is anyone from the Meiji era aside from Lady Kite and myself?"  He stopped in his tracks and saw someone that looked familiar.  He grabbed Kite's arm. "My Lady, that ghost in the red, does he not look familiar to you?"

            Kite looked.  Her jaw dropped slightly.  "Him?  It can't be!"

            "It _is_.  There's no one else that could possibly have those sword unless he passed them to his son before he died and his son has died as well but even so, the same stance cannot be copied by posterity.  It must be Kentaro."


	9. Tami Koyoshima in Person

            _I'm really surprised that only one person realized my mistake on writing that Amidamaru came from the Meiji era.  He's from the Muromachi era.  My mistake!  So here's the next chapter.  I don't own Shaman King but I own Lady Kite, Dr. Takoyaki, Tami Koyoshima and now I own Kentaro!  _

_            **~~~~**_**Tami Koyoshima In Person__**

            "This is cool," Manta said eagerly.  "I can have a lot of friends that are Shamans!  For a change, I feel like I belong to something cool and different."

            Yoh nodded.  "I know.  Maybe we can find someone who can help Anna."

            Manta looked up at Yoh's face.  He was expecting him to have an excited smile but instead there was a worried expression on his face.  "Yoh?  What's wrong?"

            "I don't know.  Amidamaru?  What's the matter with you?"

            Amidamaru glared at the samurai that leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.  This samurai was dark hair that was tied back in the samurai fashion of the Muromachi Era.  "The man is someone I know.  He was the one that killed my family and friends.  He was one of the people that helped Mosuke die that fateful day."

            "Who is he?"

            "M-my brother," Kite replied in a tiny voice.

            Amidamaru gaped at her.  "Brother?  This _monster_ is your _brother_?!"

            "Yes.  We were separated when we were young.  The last I heard of him when I was alive was that he was being raised as a samurai.  I had no idea that he would turn into a murderer!  He was a very gentle person before he was taken away."  Kite looked at Kentaro and sighed.

            Yoh looked over at Kentaro too and noticed a young girl who sat near him who was maybe a few years older than him with blonde long blonde hair tied in pigtails and held in place with black ribbons.  She wore a short, black dress, similar to the one Anna wore.  The dress was short, showing off her long, well-shaped legs.  She had on black shoes with white stockings that went to her knees.  On her arm, she had black fingerless gloves that went to her elbow.  "Yo, Manta, check her out," Yoh said, elbowing his friend.

            Manta looked and his eyes went wide.  "Woooooooow . . ." he said in one, long syllable.  "I didn't know they made shamans like her.  Who do you think she is?"

            "Lets go ask.  She's really cute," Yoh said and dragged Manta with him after the girl.

            "But you're engaged!  Can't I have a chance?"

            "Aw shut up.  C'mon!"

            "Halt."  Kentaro slid in front of the two with his hands on the hilts of his two swords.  "What business do you have with Lady Tami?"  
            Manta nearly fell over.  "Tami?!  Tami Koyoshima?!"

            Kentaro narrowed his blue eyes.  "Yes, that is her name.  How do you know her?"

            "That's my cousin?!  My cousin's a cutie?"  Manta chanted and stared at Tami.

            Kentaro glided forward, his handsome face only an inch or so from Manta's face.  "Do not speak of her as if she was a creature of your status."

            "Kenny, what are you doing?  He's  a guest.  You don't have to protect me from everyone here.  I can handle the idiots on my own," came a female voice.  Tami pushed the samurai aside.  Her voice was soft and more like a purr than anything else.  "Hello, I'm sorry if Kenny scared you.  He can't help himself at times."

            Kentaro hovered above her with an intimidating look on his face.  His hands didn't move from the sword hilts.

            "You look familiar.  Do I know you?"  Tami looked down at Manta who got off his butt.

            "Yeah, I'm Manta Oyamada.  Your cousin?"

            "Manta?  I don't have cousin named by the family name Oyamada.  You must be mistaken."

            "B-but I know now for a fact you're my cousin!  You're in my family tree!"

            Tami shook her head.  "No, I don't know you."

            "Didn't you write the book How to be a Shaman in Four-to-Six Weeks?"

            "No.  That was my great grandmother on my father's side.  She was removed from the family so she is of no relation to me.  I'm sorry for the misunderstanding."

            "But--" 

            Yoh grabbed Manta by the collar and hissed in his ear, "Don't be mad that she isn't related!  Be happy!  Now you may have a chance to get a date!"

            Manta's eyes lit up.  "You're right!"

            "I beg your pardon?  What is it you're saying?"

            "Um, why did you start this brotherhood and sisterhood of shamans?"

            "I wanted all shamans to be friends with one another.  As you know, there are fewer and fewer shamans in this world.  True, people with the sixth sense and proper training can learn to be a shaman but there aren't very many.  If people from all over the world come here, then there is a chance to more or less strengthen the blood line."

            "Well, then eventually every shaman would be inter-related."

            "That isn't really the reason.  This is just what happens during these things.  I also want the ghost to know that they aren't alone in integrating with a living body."  Tami nodded to Yoh.  "I see your partner is a samurai just as my Kenny here."

            Amidamaru nodded curtly.  "It's very nice to meet you but Kentaro and I know one another."

            Tami looked up at Kentaro.  "Really?"

            "Yes, we have already met a long time ago."

            "Then maybe you remember me too," Kite interrupted hopefully.

            Kentaro looked briefly at her.  His blue eyes widened and looked into Kite's green ones.  "Sister?  Little sister?!"

            Kite nodded and hugged him.  "I was afraid you would forget about me!  It has been such a long time!"

            "I couldn't forget about you."  He released Kite and looked disgustedly at Amidamaru.  "Why are you hanging around scum like him?"

            Amidamaru scowled and inched closer to Kentaro.  Kite held up a hand to stop him.  "He is the integration partner of the boy with the dark hair.  The smaller boy with light hair is my integration partner."

            "You are attached to this world by this pitiful excuse for a living body?!"

            Tami patted her hands in the air.  "Calm down you all.  Kentaro, watch your tone.  You know what I can do to you if you don't listen."  Her purr of a voice was gone and replaced by a harsh tone.  She held up a gold rosary bead and fingered it.

            Kentaro bowed.  "Forgive me, my lady.  I forgot my place for a minute."

            Tami nodded and tucked the beads back into the front of her dress.  "I don't want you disrupting my guests.  This isn't a time for fights but enjoyment among the people."  She smiled at Yoh.  "What is your name?  You didn't introduce yourself."

            "Oh, I'm Yoh Asakura."

            "Well Yoh, Manta, welcome to the first meeting of the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of Shamans and enjoy yourself."

            "Gee, thanks!"  Yoh smiled and went to the rows of tables with black tablecloths piled high with food and different drinks.  "They even have melon-flavored soda!  This place is cool!" he commented.  He got a cup and filled it with green soda.  "Manta, you want some?"

            Manta took a cup and drank.  "This _is_ good!  Try these things. I dunno what they're called."

            Yoh took a bite.  "This is something like the stuff my mom used to make.  I forgot what it was called.  I'll bring some to Anna incase she wants some."  He stopped and swallowed.  "Anna.  I almost forgot.  We need to ask Tami if she can do anything."

            "She isn't the Tami that wrote the book, Yoh.  She's only a shaman like any of us except for the fact that she's rich," Manta said sadly and drank his soda.

            "She might be able to," Kite said.  "If any shaman can make Kentaro afraid of a necklace, she must be powerful."

            "What was it with the gold prayer beads anyway?" Manta asked Yoh.  "Those are solid gold beads.  Why would she wear that in a room full of strangers?"

            Yoh sprayed Manta with melon soda.  "God rosary beads?  That can't be good news unless it's a coincidence."

            "Why not?"


	10. Itako and Fighting Shaman

            "Gold rosary beads show that she's an elite Itako.  She must be really good since she can't be but around 15," Yoh explained while nibbling on a skull shaped chocolate chip cookie.

            "What if she stole it?" Manta asked.

            "Ha!  Look at this place.  It's huge!  She's rich, Manta, why would she steal something stupid like that?"

            "Okay, then maybe she just got one made for a fashion thing."

            Yoh shrugged.  "Maybe."

            "My Lord, I believe she knows how to use the golden necklace," Amidamaru said.  "Kentaro wouldn't be afraid of something that didn't possess great power."

            "But if she's got Kentaro as a personal ghost, wouldn't she be a fighting shaman?" Manta asked.  "If the samurai ghost's afraid of it, then she's an Itako, right?  Well, can a Shaman be two different types?"

            "Yeah, but I only heard from Grandmother that people who are able to do that are pretty old since it takes years to perfect just one kind of Shamanic abilities.  It'll take just the old person's lifetime to perfect being a fighting shaman _and_ an Itako."  

            "Then, that's not good?"

            "Who cares?  She's so cool!  Not to mention hot and she's way nicer than Anna!"

            Manta narrowed his eyes.  "You're _engaged_, Yoh Asakura!" he practically screamed.  "Don't get all sentimental over her!  Don't forget that we came here to ask her to help with Anna's condition."

            "I didn't forget."  Yoh finished his cookie and soda.  He walked back to Tami.  "Tami?" he asked.

            "Yes, what is it?"

            "Uh, why exactly do you have a gold necklace," Manta asked suddenly.

            "I'm an Itako.  Kino Asakura trained me as one," Tami replied, fingering it.

            "So it's real?"

            "Of course.  She made it for me especially since I surpassed her _favorite_ student.  Some girl named Anna Kyoyama.  I don't know what she saw in her.  Kyoyama was always full of herself."  Tami flipped a pigtail over her shoulder.  "She managed to be almost as good as me but she didn't want gold rosary beads.  She was foolish to not want the extra power a gold rosary bead can generate."

            "So, you're an Itako.  How do you have a ghost?"

            "Because, I'm also a fighting Shaman.  I went to train under someone else.  The Tao family is a long line of very powerful Shamans and I learn quickly."

            "Kino is my grandmother and Anna's my fiancée," Yoh said angrily.  "You can't talk about the two of them like they're worthless and unimportant!"

            Tami smiled.  "Do you plan to fight for you loved ones?  I don't see why you would.  I can steal your soul and lock it away just as Anna has had done to her.  Don't you agree that it's so much better with her mouth shut?"

            "_That's_ what the gold rosary beads do?" Manta gasped.

            "Yes, if used by one who is capable of handling it, it can do much more than take a living person's soul.  It can kill if I want to."  Tami shrugged and gestured to Kentaro who hovered beside her.  "But what good is it when I have him to assist me?  It's so much fun when I'm in battle myself."

            "Why the hell did you do that to Anna?  What's she ever done to you?" Yoh demanded.  His voice shook with anger that he was struggling to control.

            "Because, she was going to tell you of my little plan to steal your samurai away from you.  I knew that you were going to join this little club of mine."  She smirked.  "You look so cute when you're angry."

            "Why do you want Amidamaru?!"

            "The Tao family has done a lot of things for me.  They taught me everything I know and their youngest son Ren has been very nice to me.  He even helped me to find Kentaro.  I promised to repay his kindness by getting Amidamaru since both he and his sister were unsuccessful in getting him.  How about this, you win against me and you'll get the soul of your worthless fiancée."  Tami undid her ponytails and tied them into one.  She arranged them on her head to fall to her shoulders.  "I think that you could have chosen someone better than Kyoyama.  From the way Jun and Ren were talking about you, you are a very powerful Shaman.  You deserve someone who can match your power or at least go beyond."

            Yoh smirked.  "Yeah, like you can do that?"

            Tami nodded.  "That, and more."  

            "SHAMAN FIGHT!" someone yelled.  Soon a crowd gathered around the two.

            "Clear the center of the room!" Tami demanded and walked to the center with Yoh beside her.  "Yoh Asakura, lets see how you do against me: Tami Koyoshima, Itako _and_ fighting Shaman!"        


	11. Shaman Fight

**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own any characters from Shaman King.  Anyone that's not on the cartoon is mine so Kentaro, Lady Kite, and Tami Koyoshima are mine!  Thank you everyone that reviewed so far, and flames are still accepted. _

_Like expected, here is the Shaman Fight.  Don't expect it to be great. Fight scenes aren't my specialty. _

~~SHAMAN FIGHT~~ 

Manta pushed his way through the crowd that was forming around his best (living) friend and the Itako/fighting shaman that also had a samurai ghost.  He looked from both Tami to Yoh.  Yoh looked wary.  Amidamaru looked the same.  Both Tami and Kentaro looked too comfortable to be in a serious Shaman Fight.  

"Yoh Asakura, choose your weapon," Tami said, gesturing to the wall behind a group of people.

Yoh turned and saw a wall display with swords, katanas, daggers, Kwan daos and many other weapons.  He looked from one to another.  He had never seen so many weapons in one place before.

"My Daddy likes collecting weapons so much that he got about four of each.  I got the extra ones." Tami waved him on. "Go on, choose, we can't let you stand here all day staring at my collection!" She sighed.  "Choose two swords.  Since both of our shamans are skilled with both two and one sword, we'll start with a two sword duel."

"Amidamaru, which ones do you want?" Yoh muttered to his ghost.

"One that is not too light or too heavy."

Yoh reached for a pair that was gold. He grabbed randomly, not caring.

"Lord, please, not one that is to ornate.  I am not used to such finery," Amidamaru said with a frown.

"Fine. This good?" Yoh held up two swords that looked old with gold tassels tied to the end.

"Yes, Lord Yoh, that will do fine."

"You sure? They look a little out of date," Yoh murmured doubtfully.

"It matters not of the age of the sword! It matters of the craftsmanship.  It is in perfect condition," Amidamaru assured him.

"All right. I trust your judgment."  Yoh turned, holding one sword in each hand. 

Tami laughed.  "You could choose any of the swords and you chose that old thing?"  She pulled a strand of blonde hair from her pretty face and shrugged.  "It's your funeral, as the clichéd expression goes."  She went to the wall and took the gold ones Yoh almost took.  "As for me, I prefer style as well as speed and power."

"Yeah, that just shows that you're like any other girl," Yoh said.

Tami held up her hand.  "Kentaro, INTEGRATE!" she ordered.  Kentaro swirled into a ball of spirit flame and appeared in her palm.  She pressed the flame to her heart, doubling over as it pushed into her soul to share her body.  She stood straight and looked at Yoh with the slightly glazed over expression on her face from sharing a soul with a ghost.  "You aren't going to fight like that, are you, Yoh? Integrate, now!"

Yoh integrated with Amidamaru at an astonishing rate, almost going as fast as Tami.  It was from Anna's training.  He held his two swords and looked at Tami.  "Ladies first, then."

"You shouldn't be so polite!" Tami said with a false giggle.  "But I'll go, since you asked so nicely."

Tami walked towards him, almost too slowly.  She held the swords out by her side, grinning. Her steps were light and graceful like a dancer's.

Yoh frowned and backed away.  _Lord Yoh, I don't like the way she is acting,_ Amidamaru said from within his head. _I don't either.  I don't think this is something Kentaro would do. This looks too girly,_ Yoh agreed.

Tami suddenly spun toward him, her swords spinning around her like a twister of flashing metal.

Yoh dodged the blows and blocked them when it was necessary.

"YOH!" Manta yelled.  "AMIDAMARU! DON'T GO EASY ON HER JUST BECAUSE SHE'S A GIRL! GO FOR IT!  REMEMBER THAT YOU NEED TO SAVE ANNA!"

Yoh remembered Anna and lunged towards Tami.  Both swords slapped Tami's out of the way and went directly to her heart.  Tami reversed the momentum of her swords and blocked Yoh's swords out of the way.

"Ooh, almost got me, Asakura.  You're not half bad.  Of course since Amidamaru's there to watch you, it's expected," Tami said. She leaped backwards and held both swords over her shoulder behind her.

_Dammit! What's she doing now?_ Yoh thought and fell silently to his fighting stance.

Tami threw both swords at him like a javelin and sped out of sight, moving so fast that she was barely seen.  Yoh moved, ready to the block the swords that were flying in easy reach.  Just as Yoh moved to block it, something held him in place.  He couldn't move!

_What happened! I am unable to move!_ Amidamaru exclaimed. 

Manta looked over and saw Tami standing casually at a distance, holding her gold rosary bead in front of her.  Her eyes were glowing strangely.  "She did this to him! I can't help Yoh!" Manta said, dancing around desperately trying to think of something.

"I can be of service, young lord," Lady Kite said from behind him.

"Huh? You can?" Manta asked.  "How?"

"You must integrate with me to be able to do so. I cannot do it as a ghost."

"O-okay." Manta never integrated without Yoh to help him and direct.  He calmed his nerves and did as Yoh demonstrated.  "INTEGRATE!" he said, focusing Kite being part of him.  He watched with nervous pride as he watched Kite turn into a spirit flame.  He integrated slowly, but he had only just learned this.  He held his hands up, guided by Kite and pushed Tami into the tables of food with her telekinetic powers.

Yoh was able to move! He sliced his swords downward on the swords, breaking them.  _See, Lord Yoh? The swords that are less ornate are better because the craftsman spends time on perfecting it rather than adorning it with flashy nonsense!  Now, where is this witch?_

Tami pushed herself up, growling.  "How did you get me?!  I froze your spirit!" She stood up and moved quickly, getting another pair of swords.  "I don't know how you did it, Yoh, but you're still going down!"  She went towards him, moving the sword in a blur to double as a shield and attack.  One of Yoh's swords was knocked out of his hands.  With the other one, Yoh pushed it into the blur, stopping it.  His sword was stuck in Tami's two crossed swords.  He twisted it quickly and suddenly, snapping Tami's blades.  

"You must have got some cheap swords!" Yoh said.  "What's the use of growing into a rich family and getting cheap shit?"

"How dare you insult me?"  Tami pulled her rosary beads out and held it up.  She swung it back and forth, letting the beads bounce off one another, clinking in a tiny metallic sound.  It was hypnotic. "Escape from the soul separation, Yoh.  Can you do that?  I didn't want to do this to you, but you leave me no choice."

"Do something, Yoh!" Manta screamed.  

Tami glanced at him.  "What can you do?"  She summoned the spirits of murderers and integrated them with the younger shamans, all with a swing of her rosary beads.  It seemed too easy to be real.  They grabbed daggers and held Manta in a headlock and bound his hands and legs.  "Do anything and Yoh will be much like Anna.  Do you want that?"  She smirked.  "As if you _could_ do anything."  She fell into a trance, swinging the beads, slowly gaining a hypnotic momentum.

Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink.

"Don't be so mad, Yoh.  You'll see Anna soon enough. Sadly you won't see her psychically."


	12. Yoh the ghost

Disclaimer: I only own Lady Kite, Kentaro, and Tami. The other main characters don't belong to me!

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***

Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink.

"What's wrong, Yoh?  Can't move?" Tami taunted, continuing to swing her rosary beads in a steady rhythm only she knew. 

Clink. Clink. Clink.  

"Heh.  Too bad."  

Both Manta and Yoh watched as Tami lowered her head and fell into her own Itako stance.  Yoh grimaced.  "Damn her."

"_One I place on my father's grave.  _

_Two I place on my mother's._

_Three I place by my brother's charred bones._

_Here I offer his soul to repent for my deeds._

_Yoh, hear my voice, your soul will arise._

_Hear the sound of my beads . . .and DIE,_" Tami chanted. 

 Yoh felt a wave of déjà vu.  The chant sounded oddly like Anna's only with an evil twist to it.  All of a sudden, he felt himself detach from Amidamaru.  Amidamaru seemed so far away.  He felt like he was . . .flying!  He flew around the room and looked down.  He saw his body sprawled on the floor.  Amidamaru's spirit hovered above the body.

"L-lord Yoh?  Get up! We must beat this witch!"

Tami smirked and stopped the swinging.  "_Soul of Yoh Asakura! Let your flesh decay.  Itako style spirit channeling!"_

She threw the rosary beads at Yoh's soaring spirit like a lasso.  She caught him and wrapped the gold beads around him, tying him to a chair.  "You know, Yoh, I'm generous.  I'll channel Anna's spirit here so you can watch your little friend's death."  She gestured to Manta's struggling form.  "Then, I'll send you to the gates of hell with the knowledge that you didn't get proper judgment, that Manta's dead, and that Amidamaru will now belong to Tao Ren."

Yoh's spirit growled and pulled against the gold bindings.  

Tami held up another rosary bead.  This one was black.  "Curious, are you?  The gold one can take the soul of people.  Elite itakos, such as myself, are able to use the gold ones.  They're mostly used for painless execution of murderers but that's too boring.  The black one is able to summon spirits from everywhere."  She smiled, lighting up her pretty features.  "That's all your pitiful fiancée can do.  Still want to marry her?  You can be with me."

"No.  You're a psycho bitch.  Anna might be one, but at least she helps me.  She cares enough to help me, even if it will kill me."  Yoh gritted his teeth.  "I wouldn't be with you even if doing so would make me Shaman King.  You aren't worth it."

Tami laughed.  "Don't you want the power?"

"Hm. . .and all I have to do is be stuck with you for the rest of my life?  Let me think.  Hell no."

Tami growled.  She held up her black rosary beads and quickly summoned Anna's spirit.  She tied Anna to a chair beside Yoh.

"Yoh!" Anna exclaimed.  She frowned.  "You got caught too? What kind of husband are you going to be if you can't handle this bitch?"

"I don't see you beating her either," Yoh snapped.

"How did you get tied up with her anyway?  I told you the club was a bad idea."

"You didn't tell me _why_.  It would've helped."

"You wouldn't have listened.  You heard 'free food' and instantly, you want to be in this little club."

"Why'd you get involved with her? What made this happen to you in the first place?"

"I was trying to protect you from her! I grew up with her so I know her better than anyone else would.  She killed her family, you know.  They kept her from rising to power."

Tami crossed her arms.  "You can chat later when you're in hell.  Right now, Manta's going to die slow and painfully."

"Manta's here too?" Anna cried.

"Yep.  Afraid so," Yoh said.

Tami fished in her pocket for a blood red rosary bead.  

Anna flinched.  "The color of blood.  She's going to torture him until he's out of his mind."

"Won't take too long, will it?" Yoh joked.

"Yoh! It's not funny!" Manta screamed, struggling harder.

"Manta! Listen to me. Do anything you can to get free.  You're the only one who can help us!" Yoh said.

Anna looked around at the crowd.  "Can't you people do anything? What's wrong with you?!"

Tami laughed.  "They're my slaves.  You notice that all their shamans happen to wield a weapon of some type.  It's a trap, I'm afraid."

"Damn. What're we going to do?" Yoh muttered.

"Wait, Amidamaru's still here.  I know what to do," Anna said.

"What?  Tell me."

She whispered something in Yoh's ear. 

 Yoh nodded.  "Oh, so _that's_ what that was for."  He turned his head to Amidamaru.  "Amidamaru!"

Amidamaru turned to face Yoh's ghost.  "Yes, my Lord?"

"Backup Plan A.  Pronto!"

"B-but my Lord," Amidamaru hesitated.

"Do it now!  He won't mind, trust me. Hurry!" Yoh said.

"Do it before Yoh's body rots," Anna added.  "Once that happens, I don't want him anymore."

"Aw shut up."

"What're you planning?" Tami asked, cocking their head at the two.

"We're going to have Amidamaru try to integrate with you by force.  When it's done by force, you won't have a way to stop him," Yoh said with a burst of insight.  He looked at Anna, urging her to understand. Anna nodded slightly.

"Oh yeah?"  Tami held out another black rosary bead and wrapped it around her neck.  On the bead was a small wooden Buddha.  It was meant to protect her.  "Nothing's getting in," she sneered.

"Damn," Yoh said, faking helplessness.  


	13. Anna and Yoh: reunited

**I don't own anything or anyone except Tami, Kentaro and Lady Kite.  Sorry for not having updated in so long!**

**Thanks for all the reviews so far!**

**________=^~^=________=^~^=____________**

"Yoh, quite stalling already!" Manta screamed.  "My pants are riding up."

"Amidamaru, you know what to do!  Spirit flame mode!" Yoh said, leaning against the gold rosary beads.

Amidamaru bowed briefly and turned into the flame version of him.

"Stupid! You can't integrate with a ghost when you're a ghost yourself!" Tami scoffed.

"No shit, Sherlock!  I'm not as stupid as I look."

Amidamaru flew into the air, spinning around Manta.  

"Lady Kite, backup plan like we showed you!" Anna yelled.

Lady Kite's spirit flame exited Manta's body.  Amidamaru immediately integrated with Manta.

"Come on, shorty, lets see what you can do," Anna said.

Manta, with Amidamaru's help, cut through the binding and stood up.  He grabbed the sword from the ground and held it in the stance Yoh usually used.  "Fight now, witch," Amidamaru said through Manta.

"What can a shrimp do against a full-fledged shaman?" Tami laughed.  She held up her sword with a grin on her pretty face.  "Alright, then.  Face me, short-stuff."

Manta swallowed nervously.  _Amidamaru, can I really do this? I don't have as much experience as Yoh does! I can't reach full integration like he can,_ he thought to Amidamaru.

"_Don't worry, Lord Manta, she isn't as powerful as she believes.  She relies heavily on her Itako skills rather than the actual fighting."_

He moved one foot back to make his body face Tami at an angle.

"Lets go, then," Tami said.  She spun around, her sword close to her body.  As she spun, she slowly stuck out her sword, weaving it to crate a dangerous defensive posture.

Manta backed up a step and blocked the attacks.  "What can I do?  I can't get her up close or I'll get cut into pieces!"

"Manta, hurry up!" Anna snapped.

"Amidamaru, use your special attack!" Yoh ordered.

Manta nodded nervously, holding his sword loosely.  He leapt backwards.  "Amidaryu shockwave . . ." He swung the sword in a horizontal slash.  "Buddha-giri!"

Tami flew backwards, her rosary beads cut in half.  Kentaro's spirit floated out and dashed into his Memorial tablet.

"Tami, make Anna and Yoh right again!" Manta demanded.  "I know how to do these things now."  He waved the sword.

"No, not yet.  You aren't going to embarrass me in front of the entire shaman race!"  Tami sat up, digging in her pockets for a rosary bead.  She gasped, drawing out nothing but lint.

"Ha!" Manta said.  "Now let them go!"

Tami buried her face in her hands.  "What did I do wrong?  I had all the rosary beads, but now . . .I can't do a thing!"

"That's because we made you use up all the rosary beads.  Unless you use them sparingly, you're only going to be cornered," Anna said.  

"Yeah, what _she _said!" Manta said. 

"Give me my body back!" Yoh whined.  Anna rolled her eyes.

"I can't integrate you back in your body, though," Tami murmured weakly.

"You can at least let Yoh loose," Anna said.

"Yeah, let me loose!"

Tami stood and removed the gold prayer beads from Yoh and muttered a chant.  Yoh returned to his body.  She looked at Tami.  "I can't let you out because I need my blue rosary bead to get you back.  Even if I take the one on you off, you won't be able to be solid again."

Anna ignored her.  "Manta, Yoh, one of you go to the hospital and carry my body back here."

"That's in the next city!  We can't get there and back soon enough," Manta said.

"I can do it," a shaman said, stepping forward.  "I'll get there for you."

Within five minutes, he was back carrying Anna's body.  He laid it down in front of Anna's ghost.

"Now what?" Yoh asked.

"Urgh, do I have to do _everything_ around here?  Dig in my pocket for my rosary bead.  Good.  You know what my Itako chant is.  Do what I showed you.  If you can't do it right, Tami can fix it up."  She glanced at Tami.  "Unless you really _aren't_ an Itako like you claim."

Yoh frowned and held up the rosary bead with a thumb and forefinger.  "B-b-but."

"The only butt in this is yours going through another three months of intensive training.  I won't go easy this time!"

"Meep!  Okay, I'll do it!"  He held it uncertainly.

Lady Kite flew to him.  "Young Master, I know how to do this.  I was trained as an Itako before I was kidnapped.  If you know the chant, than I can help you unleash what you have learned."

"Erm, okay."  He held up his hand.  Kite turned into the flame mode.  "Integrate!"

Yoh fell into the Itako stance and muttered Anna's chant.  Soon, Anna was back in her body.

"I'm surprised you got it right.  I'm proud of you.  Instead of three months, I'll only have two intensive training months.  The third one will be Manta's.  You'll give him hell like I did you."

Yoh grinned and fixed the headphones to keep his raven hair from falling into his eyes.  "Thanks, I guess."

"Oh what the hell, you saved me no matter how much I doubted you and treated you like crap," Anna said, actually smiling for a change.  She threw her arms around Yoh and hugged him.  "Thank you.  You won't be as bad of a husband as I thought."

Yoh patted her back awkwardly.  "You're embarrassing me, Anna."

"Yes, indeed, it's young love at work," Amidamaru said, popping above them with his hands clasped together.  He sighed.

Anna blushed and pushed Yoh away.  "Don't get too carried away with the idea, vapor brain," Anna snapped.  She stood up and faced Tami.  "You, you're coming to train too.  You are about as bad as Manta here, but he hasn't been trained."  She stomped off dragging Yoh by the wrist.

Manta watched it with a grin.

"Manta!  You're coming too.  I'm not going to suffer with two girls at my neck!" Yoh yelled at him.  

"Coming!"  Manta trotted after him, his memorial tabled securely under one arm and his encyclopedia slash dictionary under his other arm.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**The next chapter will be the last.  R & R!__**


	14. Epilogue: training session

Disclaimer: I only own Tami, Lady Kite and Kentaro.  Everything else is NOT MINE! 

**Yup, folks, this is my last chapter of this.  Maybe I'll write another Shaman King fic someday.  I have to get an idea for it first, though!**

**I wanted to update today because it's Friday the 13th!  I'd be weird to go "Oh yeah, I finished New Shaman on Friday the 13th of February 2004."  I've got issues, yes, I know.  Thus my penname: Disturbedvixen**

***~*~ EPILOGUE: training sessions ~*~**

"Get your ass moving!  Run, Yoh! _Faster!  All of you!_" Anna yelled through a megaphone.

Yoh gritted his teeth and ran faster.  Weights were already tied to his wrists and ankles.  All together, he must have weighed about 300 pounds.  That was nearly 3 times his body weight.

"All she needs is a whip and she'll have something going, wouldn't she?" Manta panted, his short, chubby legs churning as he tried to catch up to Yoh's longer, more graceful strides.

_"I heard that, shrimp!  You won't get supper tonight!  Keep this up and you won't get to sleep, either!"_ Anna snapped.  She crossed her arms over her chest and pushed the bricks out from under her.  The edges were cutting into her shins.

Manta moaned and looked up at Yoh who ran with a passive face. "Yoh?  YOH!"

Yoh blinked and pushed his headphones back a few centimeters.  "Oh, were you talking to me?"

"How can you stand doing this?"

Yoh shrugged. "After you've been doing this everyday for the past year, you get used to it.  It helps if you listen to some music.  It takes my mind off the fact that my chest is feeling numb."

"Yeah, you _do_ have it worse than me," Manta panted thoughtfully.  He glanced back at Anna who sat in a red-rider wagon that had wood tacked up to the sides to hold more than it was made for.  Under her was a pile of small boulders and bricks.  She had strapped a pillow down and was sitting on that.  She had created a sort of seat belt to keep her from falling out.  Tied to the handle were lengths of rope that had been tied around Yoh's chest.

He glanced at his other side was Tami.  Her face was devoid of any expression.  She ran with her hair flying behind her like a kite.  She wasn't even panting nor did she show any signs of being tired.  Manta wondered if it was because she was in perfect shape or if the guilt had taken over her conscious awareness of pain.

He turned his head far enough to see Anna's expression.  As usual, her posture was relaxed but strict.  Her eyes flickered to Tami, narrowing as she noticed that she wasn't griping.  She looked at Manta and met his gaze.  She glared at him.

Manta flinched and snapped his gaze straight ahead just in time to dodge a tree that seemed to come out of nowhere.

When the sun was beginning to go down, Anna pulled back on the bunch of ropes.  Yoh jerked to a stop and fell flat on his back as his momentum suddenly reversed.  Tami stopped and gazed silently at Anna.  Manta fell flat on his face, relishing the moment.  His feet throbbed painfully in response.

Anna stepped delicately out of the wagon and stretched.  "That wasn't good enough.  I got cramps from sitting there for so long."

"Why don't you pull it yourself, then?"  Yoh groaned, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head.  "I've got all these weights tied on and you're not exactly the lightest thing in the world.  Give me a break!  I'll try again tomorrow if this means so much to you."

"What's the point of this anyway?" Tami asked, watching as Yoh stumbled to his feet.

"The point?  There doesn't have to be a point when I'm telling you to train!" Anna snapped, placing her hands on her slender waist.  

"She's doing this to help," Yoh explained.  "It helps with faster integration and helps us get used to all this tear and wear on our bodies when we get in a Shaman fight.  I think me dragging Anna's ass ten miles carrying a ton is supposed to help me move faster."

Anna smiled.  "You're finally getting some wrinkles in that cerebral cortex of yours," she replied with a nod.

"That _what_?" Yoh asked.

"The cerebral cortex is the outer layer of your brain.  The more wrinkles you have supposedly means that you use it more for thinking and judgment.  See, an alligator's brain doesn't have any wrinkles because it only uses instinct and follows it stomach," Manta said, flipping through his dictionary slash encyclopedia to point at a picture.

Anna tossed a rock at him.  "You didn't need to get into that many details, short stuff!  You get five minutes to break and then we'll go through the hell totem-poles."

"Five minutes?! That's great!" Yoh exclaimed.

"_Great_?  It takes the human body like ten minute to be rested up completely," Manta exclaimed.

"Not me.  Five is plenty."  Yoh grinned and hugged Anna.  "I don't know what you've been smoking, but keep it up!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"  Anna pushed him away, afraid that her blushing was giving her away.

"You're being nicer to everyone all of a sudden!"  Yoh turned to Manta.  "Usually when things like this happen, I only get like ten seconds to rest.  It's like she wanted to kill more or something."  He nodded.  "Yep, but now I know that she actually cares for my well being."

"Don't get carried away here.  I'm not doing this without a personal gain, you know.  I _do_ expect for you to win the Shaman King competition so I can be Shaman Queen."  Anna said haughtily.  

Manta stared at the two of them in awe.  Yoh was just lazy and carefree, no matter what happened.  Only when his friends were in danger would he do things seriously.  Even _training_ was just taken seriously because he wanted to be strong enough to protect the people he loved.  Manta swallowed, his eyes shining bright.  He jumped to his feet, forgetting for a second that his feet were begging to be relieved of his weight.

Anna blinked and backed away involuntarily from him.  His eyes were practically headlights, sparkling with a newfound meaning of life.  "What's wrong with you?" Anna asked.

"Anna!  Give me the same treatment as Yoh!  I want to be as strong as Yoh so I won't be a scrawny nerd anymore!  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!" He fell at Anna's feet.

"You're going to be a nerd your whole life."  She sighed.  "Fine, fine.  Get away from me, then."  She set her glare on Tami.  "I guess you're going to get the same treatment too.  I'm not going to go easy on you just because you're a girl, got it?"

Tami nodded slowly.

"Good.  Not that we have that under control, we're doing the hell totem-poles right now."  Anna pull out three sticks and pushed a button on them.  She staked them into the ground and backed up.  They sprouted into a pole over 9 feet tall.

"Do we climb up those?" Manta asked meekly.  "I've never been good as this kind of thing."

Yoh patted him on the back.  "Don't worry, buddy.  This helps you get up really fast.  I'll go first and show you."  He stood in front of it and looked warily at Anna.

Anna held a stopwatch.  "Your record is 20 seconds and. . ."

"To get to the top of that?  That's a little slow." Tami said.

"Eh hem.  Shut up, I'm talking here!  Anyway, Yoh, your record is 20 seconds to get up and down 15 times before you got stabbed.  Can you beat that?"

Yoh shrugged and stretched.  "Maybe."

"Ready?  GO!"  Anna started the stopwatch.  Instantly, sharp spikes poked out in odd intervals and retreated.  Yoh started immediately, circling up the pole, grimacing as a spike grazed his shin.

"Manta, you go to the next one.  When you get stabbed, that's your time you have to beat next time.  You too, Tami," Anna said, pulling two more stopwatches out and hung them on her neck.

Manta gulped and started on her back.  The second he began to climb up the pole, a spike prodded his foot.  He screamed and fell to the ground.

Anna smirked.  "Feh.  Two seconds.  Number of times up and down: NONE!  If you want to be as strong as Yoh, you have to use your sixth sense and feel out where spikes will go.  Then you can dodge them."

Manta tried again, managing to go up and down twice before falling to the ground.  "Wow! That's a personal record!" he exclaimed.  "I've never even gone up a pole without getting stuck at the top!"

"Good job.  Now lets see how you do when the spikes will be longer and will go faster."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Manta moaned.

"You said you wanted to be as strong as me," Yoh said.  "To do that, you have to go through hell."

Manta groaned and tried to mentally make himself disappear.

"Manta!  You already aren't getting supper!  Do you want to having food all day tomorrow too?" Anna snapped.

"Why did I open my big mouth?"

Yoh smiled and watched as Anna chased after Manta who tried to run for his life.  

                        ~*~ **OWARI ~*~**


End file.
